Two new B.C. offshore schools to open, one each in India and Japan

A school in India and a school in Japan are the two latest international schools approved to offer the B.C. curriculum, Premier Christy Clark announced Monday.

“Today’s announcement is a testament to the quality of the B.C. curriculum and the regard it is held in internationally,” said Clark. “B.C.’s students continue to excel against the best education systems in the world and it is no surprise that our diploma is highly sought after.”

The SBRS Gurukul School is located just outside Chandigarh in the Punjab, India. It is anticipated that it will begin offering the B.C. offshore school program in spring 2015. The Bunka Gakuen University Suginami Junior and Senior High School is located in Tokyo, Japan. It is anticipated that it will also begin offering the B.C. curriculum in 2015.

The two new schools bring the number of B.C. offshore schools to 43. Schools wishing to offer a B.C. program must go through a rigorous application and inspection process before they can become certified; all criteria must be met to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Education.

Programs in B.C. offshore schools are inspected annually to ensure that program standards and requirements are met, and that they continue to be met. These standards include teaching the B.C. curriculum in English, employing B.C. certified teachers and principals, and using provincial graduation examinations.

Currently, more than 10,200 students are enrolled in offshore schools in China, Egypt, Thailand, South Korea, Qatar and Colombia that offer the B.C. education program. The Ministry of Education costs associated with offering these programs are fully recovered from participating international schools.